The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Rural businesses win USDA funding
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing $464 million to build or improve renewable energy infrastructure and to help rural communities, agricultural producers and businesses lower energy costs in 48 states and Puerto Rico.
In Connecticut, 10 businesses, two of which are located in Middlesex County, will receive a total of $115,749 in grant funding, according to a press release issued by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.
The agency is financing $129 million of these investments through the Rural Energy for America Program.
Two local companies will be receiving a total of $25,918 in grants. Fat Orange Cat Brew Co. in East Hampton, a small, seasonal homestead brewery, was granted $20,000. This investment will be used for the purchase and installation of a 22 kW solar array, the news release said. This project will produce 22,771 kWh (100 percent) per year used to power operations at the rural small business.
Running Brook Farms in Killingworth, a familyowned and operated garden center, nursery, and landscape company, has received $5,918. This investment will be used to make energy efficiency improvements with the purchase and installation of LED lighting, the press release said. This project will realize $3,709 per year in savings, and will replace 18,547 kWh (58 percent) per year.
“USDA continues to prioritize climate-smart infrastructure to help rural America build back better, stronger and more equitably than ever before,” Vilsack said in a prepared statement.
“We recognize that lowering energy costs for small businesses and agricultural producers helps to expand economic development and employment opportunities for people in America’s rural towns and communities,” he added.
REAP provides funding to help agricultural producers and rural small businesses purchase and install renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency improvements. These climate-smart investments will conserve and generate more than 379 million kilowatthours (kWh) in rural America, which equates to enough electricity to power 35,677 homes per year.